Traveling Soldier
by mtd4417
Summary: songfic--GusCornchip Girl. Gus goes off to war after meeting Cornchip Girl. how does she react after a terrible tragedy occurs? RR!


A/N: hey. I have been wanting to write this fic for a long time now but I have not been able to figure out a good way to write it until today. So here it is. this is a song fic to Traveling Soldier by the Dixie Chicks. I hope u like this. please RR. BTW I know this song takes place during the Vietnam War. since that was so long ago, I am not gonna mention what war is going on. the song will say Vietnam but I'm just saying he is going to war. no particular name. I hope that's not too confusing. anyway, hope ya like. please RR!!

disclaimer: I do not own recess or any characters or this song!!

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Gus Griswald was now eighteen years old. He had joined the military, and he was now waiting for the bus to come pick him up to take him over. He knew he would be going to the war. He was very nervous about it, but he knew he had to do it to make his family happy. Particularly his father. Gus sighed and looked at the ground. Then he looked at his uniform and knew he had to do this. He was still scared though. Gus decided to go inside the small cafe he was standing in front of and have a cup of coffee while he waited for his bus to come. After a moment a young girl named Theresa (Cornchip Girl) walked over to take his order. After he gave her his order she went to go receive it.

****

Two days past eighteen

He was waiting for the bus in his army greens.

Sat down in a booth

In a cafe there.

Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair.

When Theresa came back, he thanked her for the coffee. Theresa went to go take more orders, but she kept a close watch on Gus. He was timidly sipping his coffee. His hands seemed to be shaking very nervously. She noticed he was wearing military clothing. He must be scared of going over seas. Of course. After Theresa gave the person she was waiting on his order, she walked back over to where Gus was sitting. He looked up. She smiled at him to try to make him feel better. Gus noticed this so he asked if she would talk to him for a while to take his mind off of going to the war. She quickly agreed that of course she would. He just had to wait for her to get off work. He agreed and waited patiently.

****

He's a little shy

But she gave him a smile.

So he said: "Would you mind sitting down for a while?

"And talking to me? I'm feeling a little low."

She said: "I'm off in an hour, and I know where we can go."

When Theresa came back to Gus's table after she got off, he stood up and followed her out the door. He asked her where they were going. She told him they were going to a nice, peaceful place to talk. He agreed, and they walked in silence until Theresa stopped. Gus looked at his surroundings and gasped. Theresa had brought him to the pier that overlooked the lake. The sun was setting in the horizon, and everything was beautiful. Gus and Theresa sat down. They began to talk. Gus suddenly realized that he had to get going if he wanted to catch the next bus. The two stood up. Theresa wondered how they would keep in touch. Gus, not caring if she had a boyfriend already or not, said he would write to her and tell her what was going on. She agreed and watched as Gus hurried away back to the bus stop.

****

So they went down and they sat on the pier.

He said: "I bet you got a boyfriend, but I don't care.

"I've got no one to send a letter to.

"Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?"

It has been two weeks since Gus had gone over seas, and Theresa had still not gotten a letter from him. Hadn't he promised he would write to her? He had practically demanded that he write to her. Theresa should have known it was too good to be true. Why would a complete and total stranger that was going into the military take time out of his day and write a letter to a girl back home that he had just met? Exactly, he wouldn't. Theresa should have known that earlier. But, of course, she was stuck in the moment. She never imagined ever meeting anyone like Gus. Now that she has, and he stood her up and blew her off, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to handle having another boy in her life.

****

I cried: "Never gonna hold the hand of another guy."

"Too young for him," they told her.

Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier.

"Our love will never end."

Waiting for the soldier to come back again.

Never more to be alone.

When the letter says,

My soldier's coming home.

A week after Theresa convinced herself that she would not be hearing from Gus any time soon, a letter arrived in her mail from him. She was so happy to finally hear from him again. She read the letter. In it he had poured out his feelings. He confessed to her that he was in love with her. He was worried that he may be wrong but excited that he may be right. He was very confused. Gus had also explained that whenever he needed reassurance, he pictured her face. He remembered the day they had spent together. That always seemed to make him feel better. Gus had also included at the end of the letter that he would not be able to write for a while because the war was getting pretty bad. Theresa reread the letter over and over again before finally putting it down and going to bed.

****

So the letters came from an army camp.

In California then Vietnam.

And he told her of his heart.

It might be love.

And all the things he was so scared of.

And he said:

"When it's getting kinda rough over here,

I think of that day sitting down on the pier.

And I close my eyes. And see your pretty smile.

Don't worry, but I won't be able to write for a while."

Theresa had not gotten a letter from him since that one. That kind of scared her. Now that she knew he cared about her and actually kept his promise about writing to her, she had reason to be scared that he was in danger. She waited impatiently for the mail every day to see if he wrote to her again. He didn't. After another week of waiting, Theresa finally gave up. That was the first, last, and only letter Theresa had ever gotten from Gus.

****

I cried: "Never gonna hold the hand of another guy."

"Too young for him," they told her.

Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier.

"Our love will never end."

Waiting for the soldier to come back again.

Never more to be alone.

When the letter says,

My soldier's coming home.

Theresa made her way away from the marching band on the football field and rushed under the stands. Tonight was the biggest game of the year. Furiously wiping her tears away, Theresa saw a man walk out to the middle of the field with a paper in his hand. Theresa knew what the paper was. She wanted to deny it, but she knew she couldn't. She had to face the facts. Everything in the stands got quiet as the man cleared his throat and took a microphone. He announced that he was there to announce the list of men and women that had died in the war. Everyone bowed their heads as names were called. Of course they were sad when the names were called out. But no one in the stands really cared as much as a girl under the stands did when the name "Gus Griswald" was called.

****

One Friday night at a football game

The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang

And a man said: "Folks would you bow your heads for the list of local Vietnam dead."

Crying all alone under the stands was a piccolo player in the marching band.

One name read, but nobody really cared.

But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair.

Thirty years later Theresa is forty-five years old. She walked through the cemetery looking for a certain grave. When she finds it, she stoops down and places a single red rose on it. With tears in her eyes, Theresa stands back up, and, with a final look at the grave, she walks back to her house that she owns alone. She was never married.

****

I cried: "Never gonna hold the hand of another guy."

"Too young for him," they told her.

Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier.

"Our love will never end."

Waiting for the soldier to come back again.

Never more to be alone.

When the letter says,

My soldier's coming home.

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A/N: whoa-- that took a while for me to write. sorry, i know it was kind of strange there at the end. i just love that song so i needed to write it. i hope you liked it. please RR and let me know what u thought!!


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